CEREAL BREAKFAST FOODS. 93 



PREPARED CEREALS. 



While hominy has long been in use in certain sections of the 

 country, the general introduction of cereal breakfast foods is 

 comparatively recent. Oat meal is a favorite dish with the 

 Scotch and Irish and its adoption has naturally followed the 

 immigration of these races. Formerly both preparations were 

 coarsely ground and required prolonged cooking. The first 

 great advance along this line was the manufacture of rolled 

 oats, a process which consists in softening the kernel by steam- 

 ing, after which it is passed between steel rollers and dried. The 

 resulting article was found not only to keep well, but, being 

 partially cooked, and the cell walls ruptured by the crushing 

 process to which it was subjected, the time required in pre- 

 paring it for the table was very materially shortened. Later 

 the same process was applied to wheat, rice and corn, yielding 

 products which are adapted not only for breakfast foods but also 

 for the preparation of puddings and other desserts. To-day the 

 excellence and variety of the cereal foods should excite the grati- 

 tude of the housewife, whose chief embarrassment lies in choos- 

 ing among the many. It is in the hope of assisting in this choice 

 that this bulletin is written. 



All the samples collected for analysis were guaranteed fresh 

 goods by the dealer from whom they were purchased. In spite 

 of this precaution a number of packages when opened were 

 found not only musty but infested with moths or the larvae of 

 beetles. All such samples were rejected as not fairly represent- 

 ing the goods. Some method should be devised whereby such 

 stale goods should be withdrawn from the market or replaced by 

 fresh preparations. The interests of both manufacturers and 

 dealers would seem to demand that the consumer should have a 

 reasonable assurance as to the quality of the goods purchased. 



Of the fifty brands recently collected only twenty-one are 

 found in the list of those collected three years ago. There seems 

 to be a tendency on the part of the manufacturers to substitute 

 new and attractive names for a product that has been before the 

 public for some time. 



